Chicken Breed Focus - Ayam Cemani

[Pyxis]

@Cemani man

I have 4 hatched 6 week old Ayam’s. We can not figure out there sex. Is there an age or a way we can figure out there gender without a blood test?

Post pictures Usually by six weeks old you can start to tell by appearance.

 

[Joyze172]

Post pictures Usually by six weeks old you can start to tell by appearance.

Will try for better pics at night, they are not keen on handling as the rest of my flock. Momma hen was very protective while she reared them. I numbered them until the group photo. Planning to get colored leg bans as they all look alike and hard to tell them apart. 1 is a bit bigger than the rest, only time I can tell is at night when they roost.

 

[Pyxis]

Will try for better pics at night, they are not keen on handling as the rest of my flock. Momma hen was very protective while she reared them. I numbered them until the group photo. Planning to get colored leg bans as they all look alike and hard to tell them apart. 1 is a bit bigger than the rest, only time I can tell is at night when they roost.

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I am suspicious of 1 and 2 possibly being cockerels. 3 and 4 so far look like pullets to me.

 

[Joyze172]

I am suspicious of 1 and 2 possibly being cockerels. 3 and 4 so far look like pullets to me.

Thank you so very much!!!
What helps distinguish the cockerel from the pullets?

Here are a few better pics. Evening time they are better with handling. Numbers do not correlate to the previous ones as I cant tell them apart yet.

 

[Imaniful]

Sumi Thank you for this POST on the Ayam Cemani breed looking to wade in the waters and add them to our flock!

@KippenPlatform thank for the info, that was very interesting! The beautiful pullet in my pics and I bumped into each other (literally) at a show in Co Cork last year. I was so startled to suddenly find myself face to face with one of those legendary chickens, I said the first thing that came to mind

Thank goodness, the Irish have a wonderful sense of humour.

 

[Imaniful]

Sumi Thank you for your informative POSTs on the Ayam Cemani breed looking to wade in the waters and add them to our flock in 2020!

Thank you Sumi !!! Those birds are Beautiful !!!

Because there are many negative comments about these birds, they are aggressive if not properly deal with it, you should watch out for attacks,
that's totally not true !!!

They are more active than other chickens, but also curious what you are doing.
I never had any problem with the Ayam Cemani's!
But if you were going to breed this race, you will need to be aware of the following points.

Alot of breeders are not honestly about the tongues of those birds and often say that they have them
They telling also they are compleet black..... Also when they are chicks ?
But if you reed the story below you will understand it much better.

I hope that alot of people will read this and will open up there eyes .....

We ended up exchanging our opinions and breeding/hatching experience.
Many people who try to breed Ayam Cemani face similar problems at some point.
These could be development of red combs/wattles/face, white skin/toes/toenails/feather, significant difference in size of chicks and mortality rates during and after incubation.
Us, breeders, are all striving for perfection in our birds.
Well, we all have this same problem with Ayam Cemani then. Let me point out what it is.

Firstly, there is a need to point out that pure Ayam Cemani birds don’t always produce 100% black chicks.
In fact, you must be very lucky to find a 100% black chick. During the 17 years of breeding experience the Dutch breeder has only seen 1 pure black chick with black tongue. Another friend of mine who breeds Indonesian line has seen only 2 in his lifetime. So to answer the question if the black tongue exists the answer is, yes it does BUT… do we really want to go this far to end up with a chicken that is all black inside out?
Apparently, an intense pigmentation in embryos can lead to blockage of capillary veins and high mortality. That's why it is important that the pigmentation must be balanced. The line that was almost 100% black resulted in hatching rate dropping to below 10% and it was not caused by the cockerel not doing his job! In such lines many embryonic death, fail to hatch, or very slow development are often found as the organs get clogged with pigment.
On the other hand very late hatchings tended to be the most “off colour”, sometimes even resulting in almost black and white chicks. This is something we both experienced within our lines. Searching for more scientific explanation I did further reading on this problem to confirm what I was suspecting, that imbalance of some amino acids inside an egg can cause such embryonic abnormalities. So again, this is nothing to do with the parent birds not being of good enough standard.
White toes and soles indicate less intensive pigmentation. Once mature these birds will get purple faces. However, don’t confuse purple faces with red faces/combs/wattles! Purple faces happen in Ayam Cemani and obviously they are not desired trait but clear red colour indicates that the line may not be pure and it could have been crossed with another breed in earlier generations.
I feel I cannot argue with someone who has got 17 years of experience breeding Ayam Cemani and previously experienced them in their origin country. Both of us have hatched Ayams directly from Indonesian lines and compared results. We both were quite surprised to see that many similarities!

Hope this was helping out.... if you want to know more, Feel free to ask !!!!

 

[Coykoi]

I just acquired an Ayam Cemani cockerel. His spurs are just barely emerging so I'm guessing he's about six months old. Hes got a distinctly mulberry face, which is alright by me. He is simply going to be a guardian rooster for a mixed flock. Here he is in his temporary holding pen. The girls are quite interested in him - who could blame them, he's quite the handsome fellow!

 

[renk777]

Hi! I have 3 little EE chicks I picked up a couple weeks ago. They are now 3 weeks old. Fibro in 2 of them makes me think they're part AC. I questioned seller if there were Cemani in flock and she said yes. All three have straight combs though only 2 have black combs....1 little chick is nearly identical to the one fibro chick but didnt get the dark skin/comb. Due to the straight combs and the fact that they were sold as EEs, makes me think dad is Cemani and mom(s) are f1+ EEs or OEs or something. It's a mixed flock. Pretty sure 1 chick is a pullet, no clue on second...too early...and 3rd is barred and I suspect a cockerel. Thoughts? If dad is AC and mom was barred EE, that would still be a sex-link cross and male offspring would be barred, right? As to the other 2....no clue if they're from the same mom but if they are, then that would mean they're pullets, right? Just looking for clarification. Was really hoping barred chick would be a pullet but seller and I both suspected roo at a week old :/

 

[Strange Hatter Farms]

Here is my Roo. Im hoping to breed him to get back to all black. His face has a bit of red in it.

 

[CaliFarmsAR]

My rooster!! I lost my hen in September sadly.